Hang on to the Word – Part 1

This is the word God gave me when I came back from India 2 weeks back. My trip to India was a fulfilment of the Word he gave me 10 years back. I scribbled the date and time in my bible in 2005 saying God has given me a word. But I completely forgot about that because I thought its never going to happen. When I was flying back God reminded me “MY WORD WILL NEVER RETURN VOID. Don’t you ever doubt me”

You might think sitting here that your dreams are dead. That its too late for Gods promises to get fulfilled in your life and your situation is too hard and unique for God to do anything. But wait! HANG ON for another 30 minutes before you come to any conclusion.

Ecc 8: 4 (NIV)

2Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. 3Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. 4Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?”

5Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.

King James Bible

2I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God. 4Where the word of a king is, there is power:

The King’s word is supreme!!! Where the Word of a King is, there is power.!! 

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.

There is power in the Word of God. What you are hearing today carries power to change your life. It is supreme. It means nothing else can stand before it. It is the final. The King’s word is final and it is LIVING and ACTIVE!

That is why the enemy constantly keeps you away from reading the WORD.  

D.L Moody said “The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.”

If God gives the WORD he does it!!!

The problem is that

• We are not ready to receive it or don’t know how to receive it
• If we receive it we don’t live by it. We don’t do what it says.
• If we try to live by it, we don’t hang on to it. We don’t persevere. When it gets slightly hard we give up.

We all at some point have received the Word of God in our life. But the main problem is LIVING BY THE WORD AND HANGING ONTO IT. When it gets too hard, we give up. We simply give up believing the Word.

The main problem behind that is we all need a quick solution. We are living in a fast food generation. We want everything quick.

I was very excited the first year… I believed and said “its going to happen because God gave me this WORD”… I was slightly excited the second year… I started becoming slightly doubtful the 3rd year.. By the 4th year, I came to the conclusion, this word is not for me… I simply gave up…

BUT GOD IS NOT A FAST FOOD CHEF to do things in your own timescale.

God doesn’t work in your timescales but he will make sure you will get what you wanted and more!!! he makes all things beautiful in HIS time!!

SO HANG ON TO THE WORD.

Phil 2:16 “holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”

It doesn’t say hold on to the word. It says hold FAST, hold FIRMLY. Because it is easy to loose grip when you just hold.

John Piper said “Don’t starve the wick of your lamp by not soaking it in the kerosene of the word. Keep your wick in the word. Hold it fast. Give yourself to it. Hold it in your mind and in your heart.”

So Hang onto the WORD of GOD!! When I say HANG ON, it means IRRESPECTIVE OF WHAT YOU SEE IN NATURAL REALMS, HOLD ON TO THE WORD!! Give yourself to the word of God.

1) Hang on to the Word despite SETBACKS

Some of you are seeing setbacks after setbacks. But God wants you to hang on to the Word despite setbacks. Remember whenever you have the Word of God in your life the first thing you face is a setback!! Because the enemy is not happy with you having this living, active and powerful Word. He wants to somehow steal that Word away from your life.

In the parable of the sower, as soon as the farmer sowed the seed, the birds of the air came and ate the seeds, thorns came up and crushed the seeds, some were trampled upon. As soon as you hear the word you will face setbacks.

Jesus said to the disciples one day “let us go over to other side” and they crossed the sea in a boat. The boat got stuck in a severe storm and the disciples were afraid they were going to die. But just few hours before this incident they got a clear Word  from Jesus saying“LET US GO OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE”! Jesus didn’t say “let us die in the sea half way through”. He gave a clear Word to the disciples. As soon as you receive the word there will be storms and setbacks.

I love the story of Jairus.

Jairus’ daughter was sick and he desperately approached Jesus to come and pray for his daughter. Jesus agreed to come and pray. Remember Jesus is the Word in flesh. So when Jesus agreed to come, Jairus has received the Word. Jesus is now on the way to Jairus’ house. But while Jesus was on the way, news came to him and said “YOUR DAUGHTER IS DEAD. DON’T BOTHER THE TEACHER ANYMORE!!”

That’s the greatest setback. All the hopes and dreams of Jairus are completely destroyed. Jairus must have been happy when Jesus agreed to come and pray. But now its all gone. It’s all over. It’s a strong blow to Jairus.

Some of you reading this book have faced a similar setback in your life. You thought Jesus was with you. You were believing the WORD and you were very excited in life. But you faced this setback and you are sitting here with all your dreams and hopes shattered. Setbacks in your relationships, setbacks in your job, setbacks in your health, setbacks in your family, setbacks in your finances. 

This is not the only example from the bible.

One day David received the Word that he will be King through the prophet Samuel. Did he become a King the next day? No. Soon after that he faced setbacks after setbacks. He was on the run for his life. The worst setback came in a place called Ziklag. When he returned from war, he found that his family was taken captive by the Amalekites. David was in great distress because his family was taken captive and his own men were planning to kill him because all their sons and daughters were taken captive and they blamed Davids for this disaster. He hit the rock bottom in his life.

Many people would have given up at this point. Guess what David did? He asked his priest to bring the EPHOD and asked God for a word. Ephod is a robe worn by High priest to seek word from God.

He literally ran to the Word….AGAIN!!!

He didn’t run to the pub to put a pity party. He didn’t put a post in Facebook. He ran to the Word. Guess what God said to David? God said “You are going to succeed. You are going to recover everything”.

Do you know what? He did recover everything! He thought all his hopes and dreams of becoming a King was shattered in Ziklag. But he held onto the Word. He didn’t give up.

When Jairus thought, all his hopes and dreams were shattered, the bible records, “OVERHEARING WHAT THEY SAID, JESUS SAID DON’T BE AFRAID JUST BELIEVE.” In other words he simply said “HANG ON JAIRUS…. DON’T GIVE UP… DON’T COME TO ANY CONCLUSION…MY WORD WILL NOT RETURN VOID.. YOUR HOPES AND DREAMS ARE NOT SHATTERED.”

God is saying the same to you today. You don’t have to tell God you have faced a setback.. God has overheard your story. He is saying to you. DON’T BE AFRAID. JUST BELIEVE. HANG ONTO THE WORD.

Hang on to the Word despite setbacks.